(1984). Preschool Literacy: The Effect of Sociocultural Context. A study investigated the literacy development of bilingual children as they interacted in the social context of their preschool classrooms. Subjects were 12 native Spanish speaking preschoolers in a headstart classroom. It was hypothesized that what bilingual children bring to the classroom in terms of experience, values, language, culture, and personality affects the social context of the classroom and, in turn, affects the developmental process of the children's literacy acquisition. Because literacy was being investigated as a holistic process consisting of many components and many different behaviors, ethnographic techniques were used to observe and analyze the children's interaction approximately 100 hours in a five month period. Results indicated that the children overwhelmingly preferred group activity and play with others as opposed to being alone. Preschool children used the various literacy behaviors often in the social context of the classroom, and often for the purpose…
(1988). Evaluating Limited English Proficient Students' Achievement: Does Curriculum Content in the Home Language Make a Difference?. This study followed longitudinal achievement data from Hispanic students with limited proficiency in English who participated in a pilot instructional program. The program involved bilingual curriculum content (BCC) in the home language and was initiated in the winter of 1983-84 and continued through the 1986-87 school year. Six elementary schools were randomly assigned to the BCC strategy and six were randomly assigned to the No-BCC strategy; all 12 were in the Dade County (Florida) Public School system. Two cohorts of Hispanic kindergartners beginning kindergarten in the winter and fall of 1984 were followed for 2 years (until the end of their respective second grade). A pretest-posttest comparison group design, using content achievement tests, was used. Achievement tests were administered in English and Spanish. A separate one-way analysis of covariance was conducted for each test. At the end of the second grade for students in the first cohort and first grade for students in the…
(1988). Evaluation of an "Exemplary" Bilingual Immersion Program. The results of a longitudinal evaluation of an innovative educational program in bilingual immersion at the San Diego City Schools are presented. The program's goals emphasized the acquisition of communicative proficiency, in English and Spanish, for both native-English-speaking and native-Spanish-speaking students. Using a quasi-experimental longitudinal design, the evaluation investigated the effectiveness of the San Diego program on the academic achievement, in both Spanish and English, of 78 fluent-English-proficient students (FEPS) and limited-English-proficient students (LEPS) in grades 2 through 6. As expected, both groups of students demonstrated achievement gains in reading and math (on both Spanish- and English-language tests), and performed at or above national norms in all subject areas by the end of elementary school. These findings are discussed in terms of their conceptual and evaluative significance, and with respect to ongoing debates in the scholarly and… [PDF]
(1977). Report of Selected Sessions from the "Parents, Children and Continuity" Conference (El Paso, Texas, May 23-25, 1977). This report of selected sessions from the national conference on "Parents, Children and Continuity" in May 1977 deals with topics of immediate concern to Home Start (home-based) Programs and Child and Family Resource Programs. It is based on notes taken at conference sessions and consists of brief summaries of topics discussed. The conference itself focused on: (1) the most recent research findings pertaining to child development and family centered child development programs, and (2) program and research activities which emphasize continuity into the early school years. Topics highlighted in this report include assessing family needs, implementing home-based programs, individualizing services, parents as educators, bilingual-bicultural programs, single parents, teenage parents, handicapped children in home-based programs, and unique characteristics of urban and rural home-based programs. (CM)…
(1978). Discovering and Meeting the Needs of Hispanic Hearing Impaired Children. During the 1976-77 school year members of the Cooperative Research Endeavors in Education for the Deaf (CREED VII) project conducted a survey and analysis of the situation of Hispanic hearing impaired children in New York City. The demographic profile of this population, home background and language environment, the school environment, cultural factors and factors related to individual children's deafness were examined. In addition, an effort was made to determine the general characteristics of the population, in terms of language and affective functioning in school, and to understand the factors in the Hispanic child's background that affect his functioning in school. Available literature on Hispanic and other non white deaf children is briefly reviewed, and the model design, study sample, and methodology used are described in this document. The most relevant variables in the Hispanic deaf child's functioning were found to be the presence of the natural father in the home and the…
(1981). Social Competency Development in Multicultural Children, Aged 6-13. Final Report of Exploratory Research on Hispanic-Background Children. This report examines the results of an exploratory research study of the social competency development among multicultural students who attended an after school program administered by the Spanish Education Development Center in Washington, D.C. Three main questions were probed: (1) What social competencies are needed by multicultural children to maintain effective functioning in three culturally distinct settings–home, school, and among peers? (2) What conflicts are inherent in maintaining multiple adaptation? (3) What are the resultant stresses and their management by children successful in maintaining this multiple adaptation? Chapter one explains the theoretical constructs and methodology of the research. Testing techniques and instruments are discussed in chapter two, and the association between selected demographic variables and multicultural social competency scores is examined in chapter three. Chapter four includes a series of case study profiles of 24 Hispanic students… [PDF]
(1981). Evaluating Ethnic Literature from a Cross-Cultural Perspective: Implications for the Bilingual Classroom. Training of four Puerto Ricans and four non-Puerto Ricans to assess the portrayal of Puerto Ricans in a sample of ethnic literature using a holistic approach is described. Basic assumptions involved in a holistic reading or scoring are as follows: (1) readers judge each textual unit as a whole and also within the context of the range of categories of a particular instrument; (2) the group develops evaluative criteria from the content; and (3) the analytical task occurs after the readers have formed their initial perceptions. The training had three major objectives: to interpret the categories of the instrument, to develop criteria to determine the positive or negative image of the principal character, and to enable the reviewers to reach a reasonable degree of consensus in their analysis of the literature. An analytic scale provided specific data regarding the character's image. Three different responses to the same content during the early training period indicated the need for…
(1980). ESEA Title VII Chinese Bilingual Program. Community School District One. Final Evaluation Report, 1979-1980. This report examines the progress and achievements of a Title VII Chinese Bilingual Program conducted in New York City in 1979-1980. The economic and ethnic composition of the school district and the school population are discussed in the introduction. The evaluation's design and data collection procedures are outlined along with the program's goals and objectives. The bilingual program's instructional scheme is examined in terms of class organization and curriculum instruction. Materials and techniques used in various content areas are described in a grade by grade breakdown that covers grades 1 through 9. Content areas include: (1) English language activities; (2) Chinese reading and language arts; (3) reading; (4) mathematics; (5) activities related to culture; and (6) the use of educational and cultural resources. Observations regarding attendance and parent involvement are drawn from attendance records and questionnaires. The results of a language assessment battery and the… [PDF]
(1980). Efficacy of INREAL Intervention for Preschool and Kindergarten Language Handicapped and Bilingual (Spanish) Children. Evaluation of the 1974-77 INREAL (INclass REActive Language) demonstration model project, initially serving 518 children (aged 3-5 years), focused on the Colorado program's objectives of increasing language handicapped and bilingual (Spanish) children's language development significantly and preventing later language-related learning problems in mild-to-moderate language handicapped children. Project goals were to improve the language and related learning skills of the children by a naturalistic, non-stigmatizing method using inclass service delivery, thus redefining the traditional role of the speech-language pathologist. A 1976-77 experimental study of matched INREAL and control groups measured language development and indicated that INREAL intervention effected highly significant language improvement. A longitudinal experimental study gathered data for three years (1977-80) after the INREAL program had ended and revealed that use of the INREAL method at preschool and kindergarten…
(1978). Materials Development and Lesson Planning for Elementary School ESL Instruction. This paper is the narrative portion of a workshop presentation on lesson planning and materials development for ESL instruction. The specific materials and lessons which were demonstrated and which are discussed in this paper, had been designed and used in English as a Second Language classes for students ranging from Kindergarten to eighth grade in a Title I program in New York City. Six areas are dealt with: (1) Lesson Planning; (2) Classroom Routines; (3) Independent Activities; (4) Games; (5) Poems, Rhymes and Songs, and (6) Creating and Adapting Materials. The suggestions emphasize the development of communicative competence by the use of functional language in meaningful settings. Activities are discussed which facilitate the use of communicative language in the classroom. Materials are recognized to be most effective when they are prepared or adapted for a particular group of students with particular language needs. All the areas discussed are accompanied by sample exercises,…
(1979). Correspondencia (Correspondence). The language of Spanish correspondence possesses particular characteristics that lie somewhere between the everyday conversational style and the more formal literary style. This minicourse contains three lessons intended to enable the student to learn the letter-writing style and to write letters in Spanish. It is also intended to encourage and develop interest in Spanish. There are three lessons in the mini-course dealing with the following topics: (1) terminology; (2) letter elements and their placement in the letter; and (3) types of letters such as business, personal, and miscellaneous, with emphasis on the personal correspondence. A filmstrip with reel to reel tape is available to accompany the lessons. (Author/AMH)…
(1970). Iterative Research in Curriculum Development: A Preschool Language Module. A Section of the Final Report for 1969-70. The child in a bilingual or bidialectal situation must increase his skills so that he may function successfully in a wider variety of situations and know how and when to use both language codes. The curriculum described here, used in Head Start classes, is a carefully programmed, very detailed presentation of syntactic patterns that appear with high frequency in the standard dialects of American English. Details of the classroom techniques are provided in this report as are the results observed from tests administered to young children under the new curriculum and to those under other nursery school programs. The various tests and their particular results are discussed. A list of references is given. For additional information; see ED 048 924. (VM)… [PDF]
(1997). Letters from Home: An Exhibit-Building Project for the ESL Classroom. This curriculum is designed to be a flexible enrichment project for adult English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) education by harnessing the dynamic power of letters for language learning purposes. The goals of the project are to help teachers assisting students in developing communication skills, encourage social interaction as a means of building language skills, increase cultural awareness among students, identify the role letters play in maintaining ties between family members, and teach students how to create and display an in-class exhibition of personal letters. Each of the activities explores the power and significance of family letters. Students will examine the writings of immigrant families from the past and compare them to their own personal experience and correspondence. The class may share the experience with each other and the community by creating an exhibit that interprets the meaning of family letters. The project encourages adult ESL students to reflect on their… [PDF]
(2000). Basque, Spanish, French and English in the Basque Country. This paper analyzes the demographic, sociolinguistic, and educational status of Basque in the whole of the Basque country: the Basque Autonomous Community (BAC), Navarre in Spain, and the Northern Basque Country in France. It also discusses English as a third language within the bilingual educational system in the BAC. In terms of demography, 22% of the population of the Basque country is bilingual and an additional 14.5% is "passive bilingual." Even though the percentage of all bilinguals (passive and otherwise) is 35% in the Northern Basque Country, the lack of institutional support for the Basque language is producing an important decline in its knowledge and use while in the BAC and Navarre the decline has already been stopped. The use of the Basque language in the BAC and Navarre has increased as it has come back into use in everyday life. The use of Basque is most influenced by the user's competence in the language and the use of Basque in the user's social networks… [PDF]
(1982). Bibliographic Resources on Pacific/Asian Americans. P/AAMHRC Research Review, v1 n3 p3-6 Jul. Bibliography on Pacific and Asian Americans covers their sociocultural and historical background, experiences in the United States, educational needs, and related concerns. Categorizes materials by: (1) Pacific/Asian American group in general; (2) specific ethnic groups; (3) special topics; and (4) general sources on racial/ethnic groups. (Author/MJL)…